(Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

back to school

La Ronge schools set for very different start

Sep 9, 2020 | 6:01 PM

Not unlike other cities across the province, smaller than expected numbers of kids are showing up as the staggered start to the Northern Lights School Division (NLSD) year gets underway around La Ronge this week.

The division figures that’s because families may still be considering whether to go for in-school or distance learning options amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There are benefits to being back at school,” NLSD director of education Jason Young told larongeNOW. “Being able to socialize and being back with your peers again… we’re people right, and to interact in person is probably a novelty at this point.”

But Young was eager to highlight the need for families to make the choices that best suit them and figured the low attendance so far indicated people were still mulling their options between in-school, traditional distance learning or online.

I’m seeing a lot of cooperation from students _{– Jason Young, NLSD}

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“I view this as a health issue and my default position is to work closely with medical health officials daily,” he explained. “I respect people’s choice to make the decisions for their children and we’re doing all we can to ensure their safety.”

He admitted he didn’t know what to expect in terms of attendance this week but added other jurisdictions who have already started school had observed similar reductions in numbers. Young said some classes that should have been down from 20 to 10 kids (because of the staggered start) only had five or six show up.

Asked how those children coming to school were handling their new reality of social distancing he said it was interesting to see many who are younger than the mandatory Grades 4 to 12 also wearing face masks.

“From what I can tell it’s orderly and respectful and kids in those early elementary grades are exercising their choice to wear masks. Already I’m seeing a lot of cooperation from students to be respectful and mindful of each other,” he said.

New blended approach

Meanwhile, the schools for the Lac La Ronge Indian Band have been having their registration this week ahead of their new ‘blended learning’ educational offering. That will see students in two alternating groups come to school for one week then head home for the next week with learning packages. This is in addition to distance learning options that offer traditional methods or online instruction.

Director of Education Simon Bird also noted far fewer students than normal came to school this week for registration and orientation and added there was a noticeable uptake in distance learning.

“It’s taking a bit of time to get used to this new normal… we expect more students to come next week,” he said. “We’re still getting lots of questions and concerns from families wanting to know what all the options are.”

Bird figured about 10 per cent of all students would be getting their education by distance, certainly in the shorter term, and it was important to give families the breadth of choice.

“In order to make sure we are providing the most safe and comfortable options, we are providing in-school, and distance learning with or without the internet,” he said, adding the blended learning program could change after three months if the pandemic situation changes.

“We felt the best way to start the school year was to take it easy. When you’re doing something that’s never been done before it makes sense to approach things as cautiously as possible.”

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca